Defence Ministry Denies Spending €50 mn Annually Due to Figher Jet Contract

Bratislava, May 7 (TASR) – The Defence Ministry is denying media information that Slovakia spends €50 million annually due to the contract for using Russian fighter jets, Defence Ministry’s spokesperson Danka Capakova told TASR on Monday.

“It’s currently up to €20 million annually, and the ministry pays up to €10 million annually for additional service work that has not been subscribed in the aforementioned contract,” said Capakova.

Slovakia is holding talks with the Russians to possibly extend the service life of the MiG-29 fighter jets for the Slovak Air Force, Parliamentary Chairman Andrej Danko (Slovak National Party/SNS) said on TV Markiza’s politics discussion programme ‘Dvadsatpatka’ (Twenty-five). The current contract for using Russian jets will apply until 2019.